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Another (long) interesting mystery as Rutledge travels to an isolated valley in the North of England. (The map of the area helped keep track of, well, the tracks.) I still have the same gripe about the series: the overuse of Hamish -- and the need to explain what he's doing inside Rutledge's brain for readers who are new to the series. But you come to care about some of the characters (and despise others) and root for Rutledge to triumph in the end. I found the killer's motive unpersuasive, but it's the writing I read these books for, not the plotting.

I have always enjoyed the Inspector Rutledge series Having started late, I'm now reading the earlier titles which are still available via the catalogue.' A Cold Treachery' (with emphasis on the 'cold' and the 'treachery') has Rutledge sent to solve a case involving the disappearance of a young boy who has witnessed the murder of his family and disappeared in the depths of a Yorkshire winter. The story is no less harrowing and just as well sustained as any of Charles Todd's murder mysteries

hermlou
Jul 04, 2011

Eighth book in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series begins with the murder of a family of five, with a sixth member missing. Rutledge is called in to investigate because he has just finished another investigation in northern England. This is a small town in a desolate area, and it doesn't seem possible that any of the townspeople could have a motive, so the inspector tries first to find the missing boy. The fact that this took place after WWI adds an element of mystery. Rutledge says "he had never dealt with a case where so many people were intent on misdirecting the enquiry." Well worth reading.

As Inspector Ian Rutledge prepares to wrap up another case, he is called to travel to the fells of Urksdale to confront a baffling and bloody case of multiple murder. A family of five has been gunned down in their farmhouse and the last surviving member, a ten year old boy, is missing in a snowstorm that attempts to cover all the tracks. It is only through the relentless questioning of Rutledge that closure can be reached in this baffling case. Hamish, the voice in his head, is also adding his expertise to the case. The descriptions of the barren and silently beautiful landscape are perfectly recreated here. The ticking time bomb that is the murderer will quietly try to strike again, but Rutledge is on his trail!!